By Mike Feinsilber

First published on About Editing and Writing in 2012.

“I have never yet heard of a girl being ruined by a book,” Jimmy Walker, the mayor of New York City, said during a censorship debate in Albany. But the same can’t be said of journalists.  Lots of writers have been seduced and sent into their careers by a book.

Jack Limpert and I asked a bunch of people with a connection to writing to pick two books: One that had the most influence on them and one they would recommend to someone thinking about a career in the news business.